Organisational Behaviour in Action Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Organisational Behaviour in Action - Essay Example Similarly Mill, Bentham and Locke tried to include the principles of pleasure, pain and hedonism in describing human motivation but could not distinguish what factors accounted for differences in individual motivation. It was Douglas McGregor who pointed out that in order to achieve organizational objectives, it was better to treat workers with respect and compassion (McGregor, 1960, 12). One’s morale can suffer on account of undue pressures at work, bad supervision or the state of the economy when others are being laid off. In this paper we will try to discover how to keep the employees motivated and happy despite the dismal conditions all around them. Using Equity Theory to Motivate Employees at Bain & Company Psychologists and social scientists have developed various theories to explain how to motivate employees towards greater productivity and satisfaction in the workplace. Among these are Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory, Herzberg’s Two Factor or Hygiene t heory, Vroom’s Expectancy theory, J. Stacy Adams’ Equity theory and so forth. In the case cited, we have the example of Bain and Company, where the worldwide Managing Director Steve Ellis is still not afraid to hire new employees in hot growth areas despite the recessionary trends in the economy as of 2009. He has managed to placate and address employee fears of being fired by reducing their goals to achievable levels looking at the state of the economy. He is also raised the rewards for lower level and temporary employees, so that they remain motivated and happy to have a job despite the economic slowdown. The equity theory states that there should be a balance between the output or productivity of an employee on the job and the rewards given to them. If the rewards given are perceived to be less than equal, the employee becomes dissatisfied and his productivity will drop in the near future. If the rewards given to an employee are perceived to be matching the level of his efforts at work, he will be suitably satisfied and his productivity will remain at the same level in the near future. The theory also states that if we want to increase an employee’s productivity, we should reward him a little bit more than he expects for his efforts. The employee will thus be pleasantly surprised and will definitely be motivated to work harder considering the faith that management has put into him. This is what Bain and Company is trying to do with the lower level employees by reducing goals and giving more rewards at lower levels of achievement across the organization. It is also seen that when employees are made to work harder and longer hours without a commensurate rewards program, ultimately they will leave the organization when things get better in the economy. Perhaps this is the very thing that Bain and Company wants to avoid. So by rewarding employees in this fashion, staff is not only happy to come to work every day but also learn not to worry like their counterparts in other organizations who are living in fear and despair. They can produce without undue worry about tomorrow. Using Expectancy Theory to Explain Motivation in Bain & Company The case cited also mentions that Bain and Company is hiring employees in hot growth areas. Steve Ellis thinks that a downturn is the best time to hire some outstanding employees away from the competition because of economic uncertainty and layoffs adding to the fear